Tuesday, 18 September 2018

The People's Walk for Wildlife

BSBI is honoured to be named on Chris Packham's 'People's Walk for Wildlife' poster - can you see us near the base of the heart?

This Saturday 22nd September, the People's Walk for Wildlife takes place in London. Wildlife champion and natural history TV presenter Chris Packham is the driving force behind this event which is aimed at "all the people who care about wildlife".

BSBI President Chris Metherell says: “I had
the pleasure of meeting Chris Packham in July when he was touring the
country with his UK Bioblitz 2018 to highlight the extent to which the nation’s
wildlife is under threat. I applaud his sterling work supporting nature conservation
and getting the next generation involved. As Chris says, “nature reserves are
not enough!” Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend this Saturday’s People’s
Walk for Wildlife myself as I have a prior engagement in Northumberland but I would encourage BSBI members to consider taking part. Find out
more about the Walk here”.

One person who will be on the Walk with his
family is Dr Kevin Walker, BSBI’s Head of Science. Kevin said “Whether you are
into plants, bugs, birds, butterflies or you just enjoy walking in the
countryside then the People's Walk for Wildlife is an event you can't afford to
miss. This is our chance to make a stand for our nation's wildlife and a
clarion call to government, industry and wider society that we need to do more
to protect it. I'm planning to be there with my kids as it is the countryside
that they will inherit and the current generation are not doing enough to
protect it. So let’s all get together on the 22nd September and
start to do something about it”.

Chris Packham said "This is an exciting opportunity motivated
by a desperate concern in troubling times to make a real difference. I think we
need unity, to stand together and demonstrate that if we can collectively see
the bigger picture then we will find the strength to tackle the bigger
problems. Because at the moment, for all our abilities, energies, passions and
practices we are not stopping the rot in our countryside. And we can. We have a
superb toolkit for effective conservation, it’s been trialled, tested and
proven to work but it’s not been put into play rapidly or broadly enough. So
now, before it’s too late, we have to be bold and brave, we must shout
without raising our voice, we have to get up and get on with it, and we can
start by turning up in London on the 22nd of September".

If you can't attend the walk in person you can still take part via social media. On Twitter, keep an eye on #ThePeoplesWalkForWildlife hashtag to follow the action from 1pm. You can also use the hashtag yourself on the day to show your support. If you want to double the impact and show that you are supporting the People's Walk for Wildlife because you care about the plight of our wild flowers, you can also use the #wildflowerhour hashtag and/ or download and share the image above left on your feed.Between 1 and 2pm, both the BSBI Twitter account and the @wildflower_hour account will be retweeting any tweets that feature both hashtags. So even if you can't make it down to London you can still show your support for Chris Packham's initiative and stand up for our wild flowers!